L.A.S MEDIA HOUSE

Friday, 19 September 2014

BoI boosts agro-processors with N5bn

The Bank of Industry (BoI) on Thursday launched a
N5billion fund special fund for small and medium agro-
processing companies.
The managing director of BoI, Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa,
who announced the intervention tagged the Cottage
Agro Processing Fund (CAP Fund), said it would create
20,000 direct and indirect job opportunities.
Olaoluwa, while briefing newsmen at the bank's head
office in Lagos, said the intervention would be the first in
a series of direct intervention by the bank in critical
sectors of the economy.
"The objective of the fund is to bring about inclusive
growth and increase food production in the country,"
Olaoluwa said.
He explained that the loan would attract a single digit
interest rate, nine per cent, and one per cent
management fund, adding that though the bank would
collaborate with some commercial banks with respect to
providing the working capital component of the fund
which would not exceed 10 per cent of the total fund,
BoI would ensure that the interest rate ceiling was
maintained.
The BoI boss, who said that processing of the fund would
span between two and four weeks, added that the
bank was already discussing with business development
services firms to help applicants come up with bankable
business proposals.
Giving the conditions that an applicant must satisfy to
qualify for the loan, Olaoluwa said, "The first condition
to be satisfied is the articulation of the business model.
He must be able to answer the question: what is the
product? He also must be able to identify the target
market as well as give us a value proposition. We are
aware of the fact that some of them may not be able to
do this on their own, which is why we are discussing
with business development services firms who will
charge next to nothing to help applicants come up with
bankable business models."